When the Bough Breaks

Postpartum Depression and Maternal Health

Babies are dying and mothers are committing suicide, and the signs are being missed. But now an essential, one-of-a-kind feature documentary on maternal health and postpartum depression and psychosis can help professionals, family members, and mothers themselves.

WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS has been screened in 70 countries across the world; in hospitals, mental health facilities and other institutions. Narrated and Executive Produced by Brooke Shields, this shocking film uncovers a neglected public health issue that affects 20% of mothers: millions of women every year.

The film follows Lindsay Gerszt, who has lived with PPD for six years, for an in-depth look at her path to recovery, and features stories from singer Carnie Wilson, actress Tanya Newbould, celebrity chef Aarti Sequeira and Peggy Tanous of The Real Housewives of Orange County. We also meet women who have killed their children and families who have lost loved ones to suicide. Their stories and the others presented in WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS take us on a journey to find answers, break the silence, and save lives.

Related videos

Maybe Baby is an intimate, provocative documentary that takes a new look at the emotional journeys of single women in their '30s and '40s as they pursue pregnancy through the world of Assisted Reproductive Technology, a multi-billion dollar industry on the cutting edge of medicine and science. Against a backdrop…

Sister follows maternal health workers in Ethiopia, Cambodia and Haiti though beautiful and brutal circumstances. A surgical health officer in Ethiopia, a rural midwife in Cambodia, and a traditional birth attendant in Haiti work tirelessly to save the lives of women and babies. If there is a war on women,…

Featuring a who's who of world class experts, Freedom For Birth is a 58 minute documentary looking at the issue of women's rights in childbirth.
In many countries around the world, women are being denied the most basic human right of autonomy over their own bodies. They cannot choose how…

Taking us into the heart of the planet's busiest maternity hospital, the viewer is dropped like an unseen outsider into the hospital's stream of activity. At first, the people are strangers. As the film continues, it's absorbingly intimate, rendering the women at the heart of the story increasingly familiar.
Winner…

Through an intimate and artistic lens, MILK brings a universal perspective on the politics, commercialization and controversies surrounding birth and infant feeding over the canvas of stunningly beautiful visuals and poignant voices from around the globe. Inspiring, informative, provocative and sensitive, MILK celebrates bringing a new life into this world…

Woman to Woman is a documentary that offers a portrayal of the mainstream medicalised American birthing model and the rise of the doula profession that seeks to counter what doulas believe to be the ill effects of the overuse of medical technology. The film takes a retrospective look at one…

The Child the Stork Brought Home is an intimate portrait of a gestational surrogacy arrangement, from the embryo transfer that "took" and got both the gestational surrogate and genetic parents "pregnant," to the birth of a slightly premature baby girl 34 weeks later.
The film captures, through spaced interviews and…

This personal documentary reveals the complexities of a single woman living in a beauty-obsessed world with her original yet imperfect nose. It's a tale that anyone who has ever obsessed over their own "imperfection" will easily relate to
MY NOSE explores filmmaker Gayle Kirschenbaum's mother's preoccupation with her nose, the…

What is it like to grow up in a family where mothers have always worked outside the home? The Double Burden vividly portrays the lives of three families--one Mexican-American, one Polish-American, and one African-American--each with three generations of women who worked outside the home while also raising families. The film…

The U.S. has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world, despite the fact it is the natural way to feed an infant. How did breastfeeding become the exception rather than the norm in America? And what would it take to restore this most natural act to its rightful…

As one of the many women who faced fertility challenges at a young age, Dr. Jennifer Mercier shares a safer alternative to the suggested controversial procedure, in vitro fertilization (IVF).
FERTILITY exposes hidden truths about IVF, as well as an insightful new method that is safer and healthier for women…

Live-in nannies Leidy, Fina and Clara leave their children in distant towns to be raised by relatives while they move away to the city to care for somebody else's child. In a love chain, where mother figures are substituted and duplicated, bonds grow strong between kids and their nannies, and…